Walker



Dec. 2, 1958 s. LILJA 4 WALKER Filed July 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1nited Statesv Patent O WALKER This invention relates to a wheeledenclosure or socalled walker for supporting assist the latter in movingfrom place to place.

The general object is to provide a walker which is simple andinexpensive to construct, which is adjustable in width during use andreadily collapsible for storage, and which is light in weight and yetextremely sturdy and safe in service use.

Another object is to join two side panels to opposite edges of anupright center post and form a truss structure of generally triangularcross section and adapted to be collapsed by swinging the panels towardeach other.

' A further object is to locate the hand rails relative to the threesupporting wheels in a novel manner which prevents forward tipping ofthe walker during normal use.

Another object is to provide a novel adjustable linkage for maintaininga selected degree of expansion of the triangle structure.

The invention also resides in the novel manner of hinging the sidepanels on the center post, in the novel construction which permits theformation of the center post and side panels from wire, and the simplemanner of adapting the structure as a whole for convenient use bypersons of difierent heights. x i

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of awalker embodying the novel features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view with the walker collapsed.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the principal parts.

Fig. 4 is a plan section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan section similar to Fig. 4 with the walker I collapsed.

Fig. 6 is a section taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 7-7 of Fig. 4.

Generally stated, the improved walker comprises two upright side panels10 hinged at their forward edges to a center post 11 to define arearwardly opening triangular frame in which the user may stand whileresting his hands or arms on rails 12 or handles 13 and pushing thewalker forwardly as permitted by wheels 23 and 24 which support the postand the panels. At points spaced behind the post, the panels are joinedby an adjustable linkage 14 which permits the panels to be swung towardand away from each other and held rigidly in any selected position.Preferably all of the parts of the frame are fabricated from wire toachieve lightness in weight as well as the desired overall rigidity ofthe frame, V

The post 11 constitutes the front of the walker and is preferably formedby bending a piece of heavy wire into an elongated rectangle havingparallel side bars 15 rigidly joined by end pieces 16 and spacedintermediate cross pieces 17, 18 and 19. The pieces 17 are welded to thepart of a persons weight tothe slide 40 along the 2,862,544 I PatentedDec. 2, 1958 ice outer face of the side bars 15 and also to an L-s'hapedbracket 20 having a forwardly projecting leg 21 secured by a bolt 22 tothe top member of a caster 25 having the wheel 23 mounted thereon toswivel about an upright axis. In the present instance the post is 2inches wide and 34 inches long. By shaping the bracket 20, the post istilted rearwardly and away from the vertical so as to be inclined atabout 5 degrees relative to the horizontal'when the panels are swungapart (Fig. 1). w

In the present instance, each of the side panels 10 is an open wireframework comprising three laterally spaced bars 26, 27 and 28 rigidlyjoined as by welding to the inner sides of the horizontal top rail 12and intermediate and bottom rails 29 and 30. The top and bottom crossrails and the rear upright bar 26 may be bent from a single piece ofwire which at the lower rear corner of the panel is formed with arearwardly projecting eye 31 for receiving the bolt 32 of a caster 33carrying one of the rear wheels 24.

'At their forward ends, each of the rails 12, 29 and 30 projects beyondthe bar 28 and is bent inwardly and around one of the side bars 15 ofthe post 11 and then rearwardly to form a closed eye 33. Two of theeyesare disposed above and abut against the lower cross pieces 16 and 18so as to lock the panel against downward sliding along the post. Upwardsliding of the panel is prevented by locating the upper eye immediatelybeneath the upper cross piece 16 of the post.

The hinge connections thus formed permit true hori zontal swinging ofthe panels 10 relative to the post 11 and about substantially verticalaxes. Thus, in spitejof the backward tilting of the post, the hand rails12 remain substantially horizontal inall degrees of the expansion of thetriangle. Complete collapse of the frame as shown in Fig. 2 may beaccompanied by a slight decrease in the angle of tilt of the'center post11.

While the adjustable linkage '14 may take various forms, theconstruction shown is preferred in view of its simplicity and itslocation in an out of the way part or apex of the enclosing triangle.The linkage includes two straight links 35 hinged at their rear ends tothe intermediate upright bars 27 of the panels 10 and convergingforwardly at a substantially included angle. when the frame is expandedas shown in full in Fig. 4 and disposed substantially parallel when theframe is collapsed (Fig. 5 To form the hinges, the end portions of thelinks are looped around the bars 27 to form eyes 36 which. are heldbetween closely spaced bars 37 disposed a short distance beyond the toprail 12. i

The other ends of the links are flattened asindicated at 38 and projectinto horizontal slots 39v in opposite sides of a slide 40 carrying pins41 by which thelink ends are pivoted on the slide. A hole 42 extendingthrough the slide 40 between the slots snugly receives a horizontalguide rod 43 rigid with and projecting rear-v wardly from the post 11and bisecting the apex of thesubstantially parallel and the side panelswill parallel each other. The frame is thus held collapsed into a thencompact package for convenient storage. The position of guide rod 43 maybefixed by tightening a knob 45 to turn a screw 46 thereon into a holein the top of the slide and thus clamp the slide firmly to-the rod.

After loosening the screw, the slide may be moved rearwardly along therod thereby spreading the'panels 10 apart first to an intermediateposition shown in,

pliantornin Fig. 4 and then to a fully open position shown in full asthe rearward movement-of the slide is continued.

If desired, a linkage of similar construction may be provided nearthe-lower end of the triangular frame to further increase the rigiditythereof when its knob 45 is-turn'ed to tighten the clamping screw.Theguide rod 43 of this unit'may be welded to the lower pair ofcrossbars 17 on the post. In this instance, the "loops 36' on the links'35 are disposed'between the lower cross bar 29 and a bar =29a spanningthe upright bars of the panel. The top rails-12of the panels may be usedconveniently as a handle for a person to grasp with his hands or to*rest his forearms thereon while using the walker. In addition it ispreferred to provide additional and somewhat-thicker handles 13 disposednear the rear ends of the top rail 12. To render such handles removable,they may be of inverted U-sh'aped cross .section as shown in Fig. 6 andadapted to fit snugly down over the rail 12 and across bar 47 spaced ashort distance below this rail.-- .In this instan'ce, the bar 47constitutes one end portion of an- L'-shaped piece 48 of wire welded tothe outer sides of the rails 29 and 37 and disposed adjacent the rearupright 26 of each side panel. By employing moldings ofrubber or thelike, the handles may be adapted to fit closely around the rail 12 andalso around the bar 47 thus locating the handle rigidly on the panelwhile permitting the same to be removed easily by bodily lifting.

To adapt the walker for convenient use by persons of difierent'heights,the cross bars 29 and 37 maybe arranged in pairs adapted to fit in thehandles 13 and vertically spaced apart along the panels 10. The pairs ofrails thus form hand rails which may be grasped selectively by the user.If desired, the handles 13 may be shifted from one pair of bars toanother to enable a firmer grasp of the hand rails to be obtained.

With the construction above described, it will be apparent that thewheels 23 and 24 provide three widely spaced points of support for theframe when the panels thereof are spread apart for normal use as shownin Fig. 1. Thus, these wheels constitute the corner of a supportingtriangle shown in dot-dash outline in Fig. 3. Owing to the backwardtilting of the center post 11 and the resulting inward canting of theside panels when connected thereto as above described, the handle barsl2'form with the upper end of the post a smaller upper triangle disposedwholly within the lower supporting triangle. As a result, the downwardforces applied to the handles 13 on the bars 12 by resting the usershands of thereon will produce a resultant force which is directeddownwardly and always falling within the area of the larger triangleeven when the user applies a forwardly directed force component in orderto roll the walker ahead. The forces thus directed serve to hold allthree of the wheels solidly against the floor and eliminate any dangerof forward tipping of the frame. Frequently, it may be desirable for theuser to narrow the frame in order to negotiate a narrow passageway.

v This may be accomplished by leaving the lower knob 45 in 'asomewhatloosened condition and regulating the clamping force by adjusting theupper knob alone. With the knob 45 properly set, the width of the walkermay be increased and decreased as desired as it is being pushedforwardly.

I claim as my invention:

1. A walker comprising an upright post, a caster secured to the lowerend of the post to support the latter, two upright side panelsrespectively hinged along their frontedges to said post forswingingtoward and away from each other, casters secured to the lower ends ofsaid panelsand supporting the latter at points spaced rearwardly fromthe post, said casters defining the corners of a supportingt'riangle,and handles rigid with saidp'anels at the upper ends thereof and spacedrear- A wardly from said post, said handles and the upper end of said.post defining a second triangle disposed within said first triangle sothat the resultant of the downward pressures exerted on said handles bya user during forward pushing of the walker will be directed along aline falling Within said first triangle.

2. A walker as defined by claim 1 in which said post is inclinedupwardly and rearwardly from said first caster so as to space the apexof said second triangle behind the apex of the first triangle and alsodispose the second triangle wholly within the-first triangle.

3. A walker as defined by claim 1 in which said post comprises a rigidopen rectangular frame substantially narrower than said panels andinclined upwardly and rearwardly from said first caster.

4. A walker as defined by claim 1 in which said post includes laterallyspaced side bars each pivotally connected to one of said panels atpoints spaced along the upright edge of the latter.

5. A walker as defined by claim 3 in which said side panels include barsprojecting from the forward edges ofthe' panel and bent around onesidebar of said post to form a loop and hinge the panel onto the post.

6. A walker as defined by claim 5 in which said post includes a crossmember underlying one of said loops to support the forward edge of thepanel.

7. A walker comprising an upright post, a caster secured to the lowerend of the post to support the latter, two upright side panelsrespectively hinged along their front edges to said post for swingingtoward and away from each other, casters secured to the lower ends ofsaid panels and supporting the latter at points spaced rearwardly fromthe post, said casters defining the corners of a supporting triangle,handles rigid with said panels at the upper ends thereof and spacedrearwardly fromsaid post, and an extensible and contractible linkagejoining said panels including links pivotally connected at their rearends to saidpanels intermediate the upright edges thereof and convergingtoward said post.

8. A walker comprising an upstanding post, side panels respectivelyhinged at one edge to opposite side edges of said post to form acollapsible frame of triangular horizontal cross section, casterssupporting the lower ends of said post and said panels, a guide rigidwith said post and projecting rearwardlytherefrom, a member slidable onsaid guide, and two links pivotally connected at opposite ends to' saidmember and the respective side panels, and means for fastening saidmember to said guide at selected points along the latter.

9. A walker asdefined by claim 8 in which said fastening means is ascrew threaded into said member for abutment with said guide.

10. A walker comprising an upright post, a caster se'cu'r'ed'tothe-lower end of the post to support the latter, two upright side panelsrespectively hinged along their front edges to said post ferswi-ng-i-ngtoward and-away from each other, 'easters-securee to the lower "ends ofsaid panels and supporting the latter at points spaced rearwardly fromthe post; 's'a id' casters defining the corners of-a'suppo'rt ing triarigl'e', said panels having horizfontalrailsat theupper ends thereof,handles detachably secured 'to said rails s aced rearwardly from saidpost, and other rails rigid with panels below said 'firstrail's andadapted for interengagement with said handles.

11'. A walker comprising an 't'ipri'ght post, -a caster secured to thelower end of the post to support the latten two upright side panelsrespectively hinged along their nomad -es to said post for swingingtoward and aw'ay 'fro'm'each'other,casters secured to the lower ends ofsaid panels and su'pportin'g the latter' at points spaced rearwardlyfrom the post,- said casters defining the corners of a supportingtriangle, saidpanels each having a 'p'air of vertically spacedhor'i'zontal rails 'at the'upper endthereof, a second-pairof'si'rnil-ar'rails spaced below saidfirst r'ails, andjhandles ofU-shap'ed cross section References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Schopp Feb. 9, 1869 6 Quickel June 10, 1913 BoltzAug. 26, 1941 Milward June 9, 1942 Martin July 12, 1949 Wright Feb. 9,1954

